Giovanni Domenico Campiglia
Drawing of a Statue of Venus with a Dolphin (The Medici Venus)about 1730In the early 1730s, the antiquary Anton Francesco Gori started work on a comprehensive set of volumes called the 'Museum Florentium' that were intended to provide a visual record of the artistic treasures of Florence. He employed artists to draw copies of famous works which were subsequently engraved and published. This fine red chalk drawing of the ancient sculpture called 'The Medici Venus' was one of Campiglia's contributions to the Antique Sculpture volume (first published in 1734). The Medici Venus was celebrated as a model of female beauty. It was discovered in Rome in the sixteenth century, and for some time it was housed in the Villa Medici, Rome. In 1677 the sculpture was moved to Florence, where it was eventually installed in the Tribuna of the Uffizi.
Glossary [5] Show
Antiquarian
Relating to the study or collection of antiques, particularly from the civilisations of ancient Greece and Rome. It is also used for a person engaged in this work.
Commission
When an individual or organisation employs an artist to execute a particular project, the process and the resulting work are termed a ‘commission’.
Engraving
The printmaking technique in which an image is inscribed on a copper plate with a tool that cuts a groove in the surface. This groove holds the ink that creates the print when it is applied to paper. Also refers to the method of making an incision on a material such as glass.
Medici
A wealthy and important family who ruled Florence for much of the 15th to the 18th centuries. During this period they commissioned many great artists and architects including Fra Angelico, Donatello, and Botticelli.
Red chalk
A type of chalk containing the mineral hematite, a form of iron oxide, that is used for drawing.
- Accession no. D 1988
- Medium Red chalk on paper
- Size 53.70 x 37.00 cm
- Credit Lady Murray of Henderland Gift 1860 as a memorial of her husband, Lord Murray of Henderland
Giovanni Domenico Campiglia (Italian (Florentine), 1692 - after 1775)
Campiglia's reputation as a fine draughtsman is largely due to two great commissions he received during his career. In both cases he made drawings of antique sculptures which were engraved to illustrate publications. In the early 1730s he worked in Florence on Anton Francesco Gori's vast and celebrated publication 'Museum Florentium'. Campiglia's contributions were published in 1734, the year Pope Clement XII invited him to Rome. There his fine ability to draw classical sculptures was employed by the historian Giovanni Gaetano Bottari for his multi-volume 'Musei Capitolini', published throughout the 1740s and 1750s. Campiglia's precise, highly finished red chalk drawings were especially popular with English collectors, who encountered his work during their Grand Tours of Italy.
Glossary [5] Show
Commission
When an individual or organisation employs an artist to execute a particular project, the process and the resulting work are termed a ‘commission’.
Draughtsmanship
The ability to draw skilfully, often refers to technical drawing.
Grand Tour
An educational tour of Europe, especially through France and Italy taken by (particularly British) aristocratic youth from the 17th to the 19th centuries. Such tours were seen as essential for a full understanding of classical civilisation. They were also important opportunities for collecting art and antiquities.
An image pressed or stamped onto paper or fabric. This encompasses a wide variety of techniques, usually produced in multiples, although one-off prints, known as monoprints, are also included. The term is also applied to photographic images.
Red chalk
A type of chalk containing the mineral hematite, a form of iron oxide, that is used for drawing.